The present invention relates to internal combustion engines and particularly to apparatus for preparing a mixture of atomized liquid fuel and air for combustion in such engines.
With the significant increases in recent years in the prices of gasoline and other liquid fuels commonly used in internal combustion engines, considerable interest in and a considerable need for improved fuel efficiency in the operation of internal combustion engines has developed. In basic theory of operation, internal combustion engines rely on a mixture of atomized liquid fuel and air capable of substantially complete and instantaneous combustion in the combustion chambers of such engines for proper operation thereof. Traditionally, one or more carburetors have been utilized for this purpose. However, one of the drawbacks of the use of carburetors is that their ability to atomize liquid fuel into a very fine mist capable of substantially complete and instantaneous combustion is limited. Specifically, carburetors typically produce fuel particles which are too large for complete and instantaneous combustion in internal combustion engines, resulting in unnecessarily high fuel consumption, less than optimal resultant power from the fuel combustion, and unnecessarily high levels of atmospheric pollutants in the products of combustion.
Accordingly, a significant need exists for an apparatus or means for use in an internal combustion engine for improving the degree of fine atomization of the liquid fuel utilized. One particular arrangement that has been attempted in the past is to provide a rotatable or non-rotatable propeller disposed intermediate the carburetor and intake manifold of an internal combustion engine for the intended purpose of improving the atomization of the fuel particles in the fuel-and-air mixture prepared by the carburetor. Representative examples of varying devices and arrangements of this basic type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,498,859; 2,216,722; 2,354,373; 4,011,850; 4,014,303; 4,367,700; and 4,478,607. Despite the degree of attention that propeller devices of this type have received in the past as represented by these patents, it is believed that none of these devices or apparatus have ever been commercially produced or proved commercially feasible, principally it is believed because these devices do not provide any direct relationship between their operation and the fuel requirements of the engine during the course of its operation.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved propeller-type fuel atomization apparatus for use in internal combustion engines which is operated by a particular control arrangement in relation to the fuel requirements of the engine as its speed increases and decreases during the course of normal engine operation, thereby to provide improved completeness in the combustion of the fuel-air mixture with attendant improvement of the fuel economy, power output and pollutant output of the engine.